tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14345350.post4577833073483205442..comments2024-01-12T07:33:46.615-05:00Comments on Criminal Defense: The Cheapening Of Our Profession: Who's To Blame?My Law Licensehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17487117416844299246noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14345350.post-32350232911273241902012-01-09T13:01:22.851-05:002012-01-09T13:01:22.851-05:00I completely agree. Attorney advertising is a disg...I completely agree. Attorney advertising is a disgusting disgrace that cheapens our profession. There is a reason why it is so common. It's the only legal option. Attorneys who buy big loud advertisements are not the attorneys who get the most clients, they are, with a few exceptions, the attorneys who get any clients. It is illegal not to run client relationships like an assembly line, because advertising costs are not a benefit, they are a requirement. The reason is that the alternative is illegal, and is being more and more seriously illegal as time proceeds due to the lobbying efforts of powerful law firms and big business.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14345350.post-14422883382476876872011-04-05T16:32:56.303-04:002011-04-05T16:32:56.303-04:00I love attorney advertising.
The key is to compet...I love attorney advertising.<br /><br />The key is to compete on quality a and not price.<br /><br />Don't quote prices over the phone.<br />If they sound like they have money, bring them into the office for a consultation. Measure their fear compared to their expectancy, then charge them a good fee.<br /><br />If they don't want to pay, or have too complex a case for the money,let them go. You want to get the most money for the least work.<br /><br />Looked at that way, this can be a good business.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14345350.post-36854665114813827062011-02-10T00:08:14.414-05:002011-02-10T00:08:14.414-05:00How about using the economic law of supply and dem...How about using the economic law of supply and demand. Many lawyers chasing few clients = the lowering of fees you describe (even if I personally don't have a problem with it). But, imagine if there were more clients than there were lawyers? The fees go up.<br /><br />This would require drastically limiting the number of law school slots available. Basically scale back (or eliminate) existing law schools and don't allow new ones to open. The ABA might have the power (you would know better than me) to do this through its ability to accredit law school programs.<br /><br />Otherwise, some observers have said in other blawgs how new attorneys just have to stop bitching and practice law any way they can, for the love of the trade rather than as a cash cow, and suck up not having 160K waiting for them once they show up with a law degree. Perhaps that can also be a lesson for veteran attorneys as well. Are you doing this just to make boatloads of money (if so then the business world might be better), or to make an acceptable living zealously represent the constitutional rights of your clients and that sort of thing?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14345350.post-79588054618638861922011-02-06T14:42:38.414-05:002011-02-06T14:42:38.414-05:00I am in wholehearted agreement. Advertising, coup...I am in wholehearted agreement. Advertising, coupled with the SCOTUS case [<i>Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar</i>] that ruled the old minimum fee schedule a restraint of trade, have just about killed this profession. <br /><br />There is one aspect of this that has not been mentioned--the ethical conundrum. If a lawyer takes on a whole bunch of case at low fees, she can't spend a lot of time on any one case. That can be a major problem<br /><br />Some cases, most felonies, DWI cases, and some others, require a great deal of time, not to mention skill, to defend. That was the whole rationale behind the old minimum fee schedule. We are required to give a zealous, competent defense to each client. But, how is a lawyer going to devote the time and attention to each client, as the ethical rules require, when the rent isn't paid because the fees are too low?<br /><br />About 20 years ago, Newsday, on Long Island, ran a lawyer's ad that stated: Felony trial, complete, $500. How can you do that? (What's your name? Smith. OK, Mr. Smith, what are you charged with? Robbery. OK Ready for trial your honor,) As ridiculous as that sounds, that ad ran for six months to a year, perhaps longer. It is a perfect illustration of what has happened since advertising was allowed and the minimum fee schedules declared illegal.<br /><br />I wish I had an easy answer. Alas, I do not.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14345350.post-79552100792598539132011-02-03T19:34:32.781-05:002011-02-03T19:34:32.781-05:00Anonymous copper here. :-)
1. What of the possib...Anonymous copper here. :-)<br /><br />1. What of the possibility that the law of supply and demand is at work here? If there are a limited number of lawyers for a few cases, the price of legal services will remain high. But what about when law schools (if the blawgoshpere is accurate at least) is producing a record crop of massively indebted new lawyers to serve what is, ultimately, a small and oversaturated market for legal services. That automatically puts downward pressure on legal fees. Having those heavily indebted lawyers willing to work for anything at all, just to practice law adds momentum.<br /><br />2. You say" I've seen fees on criminal cases range from $299 for a DUI (yes, $299) to several million dollars for a white collar federal defense. Most criminal lawyers today are happy to get their hands on $5,000.00 for the garden variety case."<br /><br />It must be different in your county. In mine an OVI is an expensive proposition to defend.<br /><br />You also write: "The clients who are willing to pay mid 5 figure and six figure fees are dwindling,"<br /><br />I would change that to clients that are ABLE to pay that kind fee are dwindling. You can't get blood from a turnip.<br /><br />I make a decent salary and save money. I could not come up with the hard cash tomorrow to start (but only begin) a felony defense without deciding that my children don't go to college. And most of your potential clients (the ones I sometimes charge are pretty much barely keeping up with rent and car payments) are in far worse shape than me. You seem to be either unwilling or unable to understand that dynamic.<br /><br />3. The obvious solution is to give public defenders (or private CDL's contracted by the state for specific cases) funding parity with the prosecution. That way people get punished by the courts (if found guilty or they plead out) rather than by going bankrupt. That is not likely to happen with Republican politicians.<br /><br />So we end up with the current model where an ever growing number of lawyers is chasing an ever smaller number of clients who can actually afford legal fees without bankruptcy.<br /><br />Do you have a structural solution in mind for this problem?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com